Digital & print resources available

IRIS offers a variety of resources for the
seismological community and general public
including online interactive materials,
regular newsletters, brochures,
webinars, past event materials. We also offer
digital copies of our proposals and reviews
for download.

Workshop Breakout Summaries:

Assorted Workshop Materials:

Summary

Multi-use, multi-user facilities to support geoscience research require durable infrastructure, built and used over significant time periods, rarely less than five years and sometimes for twenty years or more. Investment in these facilities can be utilized by numerous investigators in diverse fields but only if the facilities incorporate capabilities required for individual research projects that may be proposed long after a facility is designed.

NSF/EAR has indicated its plan to recompete the management and operation of its seismic and geodetic facilities in 2018 (see 2009 Dear Colleague Letter on Plans for Integration and Recompetition of EAR Solid Earth Deformation Facilities). In order to inform this recompetition, IRIS, UNAVCO, and the EarthScope National Office (ENO) are working together to gather community input for NSF on the key scientific questions and emerging areas of research the geosciences community will be pursuing in 2018 and beyond, and the seismic and geodetic facility capabilities that will be required to support this research. We plan to describe two types of capabilities:

Foundational facilities are those seismic and geodetic capabilities without which geoscience research, as practiced today, could not continue

Frontier facilities are new capabilities, beyond those that might presently exist, which will be required to make rapid progress in addressing one or more science grand challenge questions

Workshop

The 2 ½ day workshop will be organized around broad geoscience research and outreach needs beyond 2018: rheology and global geodynamics, fault and volcano systems, evolving landscapes, and discovery-mode Earth science. For each topic, several concise presentations and Q&A periods in plenary sessions, including at least one focusing on broader impacts, will be followed by breakout sessions charged to address questions about emerging science opportunities, required facilities, and broader impacts.

Location and Dates

The workshop will be held at the Lansdowne Resort and Conference Center in Leesburg, VA about 8 miles from Dulles International Airport and a 40 min drive from Washinton, DC. The Workshop will begin in the late afternoon of Sunday May 3rd and continue through lunch on Wednesday May 6th.

Participation

Participation in the workshop will be limited to 100 researchers and educators from the geoscience community. Applications to attend the workshop will be accepted between December 1, 2014 and February 15, 2015. The Workshop Organizing Committee will choose participants to represent the seismological, geodetic, and broader geoscience research communities, with special attention to including early-career investigators, women, and underrepresented minorities. Attendees will be notified by March 2, 2015.

Whitepapers and Community Webinars

Whitepapers will be solicited from the IRIS, UNAVCO and EarthScope communities, and researchers and educators in allied geoscience disciplines. These short (1-2 pages) documents will describe an important scientific question or problem the community member expects to be working during the next decade and the seismic or geodetic facility capabilities that would enable further progress in addressing this scientific issue or support related broader impact needs. The goal of these whitepapers is to gather input from a broad cross-section of the geoscience community, since attendance at the workshop will be limited.

Community Webinars: Several disciplinary communities in the geosciences have already identified science grand challenges and future research opportunities. Webinars will review and, if necessary, produce updates to the earlier reports and describe how complementary facilities of other agencies (USGS, NASA, NOAA, and DOE) are expected to support research.

Workshop Report

A written workshop report will be produced to summarize both foundational and frontier, seismic and geodetic facility capabilities required post-2018. A draft report assembled by a Writing Committee will summarize recommendations of the workshop attendees and will be available for public comment before the report is finalized. After the report is complete, the lead editors of the report will brief NSF upper management and Division Directors within GEO.

Organizing Committee

Lucy Flesch, Co-Chair

Purdue University

Karen Fischer, Co-Chair

Brown University

Greg Beroza

Stanford University

Roland Burgmann

University of California, Berkeley

Jay Famiglietti

University of California, Irvine and JPL

Kristine Larson

University of Colorado

Cathy Manduca

Carleton College

Susan Schwartz

University of California, Santa Cruz

Leigh Stearns

University of Kansas

Rebecca Walker

Mt. San Antonio College

Kelin Whipple

Arizona State University

Doug Wiens

Washington University

Writing Committee

Rick Aster, Co-Editor

Colorado State University

Mark Simons, Co-Editor

California Institute of Technology

Roland Burgmann

University of California, Berkeley

Estelle Chaussard

University of California, Berkeley

Gary Ebert

Oregon State University

Natalya Gomez

McGill University

Bill Hammond

University of Nevada, Reno

Steve Holbrook

University of Wyoming

John Hole

Virginia Tech

Thorne Lay

University of California, Santa Cruz

Steve McNutt

University of South Florida

Michael Oskin

University of California, Davis

Brandon Schmandt

University of New Mexico

David Schmidt

University of Washington

Leigh Stearns

University of Kansas

John Vidale

University of Washington

Lara Wagner

Carnegie Institution for Science

Paul Winberry

Central Washington University

Breakout Session Charge

The goal of each Breakout Session is to define both the foundational and frontier geodetic and seismic facility capabilities required to advance geoscience research and education post-2018. Foundational facility capabilities are those without which geoscience research, as practiced today, could not continue. Frontier facilities capabilities are those new capabilities, beyond those which might presently exist, which will be required to make rapid progress in addressing one or more science grand challenge questions.

Each Breakout Session will develop written recommendations that address these questions:

What key scientific questions, emerging science opportunities and technical advances will geoscientists be pursuing in 2018 and beyond?

What foundational and frontier geodetic and seismic facility capabilities will be required to support geoscience research in 2018 and beyond?

The Lansdowne Resort and Conference Center is located in Leesburg, VA about 8 miles from Dulles International Airport (IAD) and a 40 min drive from Washington, DC. Lansdowne provides a paid shuttle service to and from Dulles International Airport for a cost of $30.00 per person each way.

Support for Attendees

Participants selected by the Organizing Committee, will be provided with up to $500 to cover the cost of transportation including airfare, parking, taxis and other costs. Lodging and meals during the Workshop will be paid directly by the conference organizers.

Housing Reservations

Lodging will be provided at the Lansdowne Resort and Conference Center. Participants selected by the Organizing Committee will receive information on lodging in early March.

Sunday, May 3rd

Time

Title

3:00 PM
– 7:00 PM

Registration - Amphitheater Foyer

7:30 PM
– 7:40 PM

Welcome and Workshop Goals - Amphitheater

(Workshop Organizing Committee)

7:40 PM
– 8:30 PM

Pop-up talks (< 5 minutes) on: "exciting things to work on with the facilities of the future."

The PBO facility capabilities are needed to support education, outreach, training, & workforce development in the field of geodesy. While USGS has the operational responsibility to provide information on earthquake and volcanic hazards in the U.S., other government agencies and private entities have a vested interest in geophysical observations that enable them to mitigate losses and optimize situational awareness in the event of an earthquake or volcanic eruption. In this context, PBO sites that contribute critical real-time data for EEW or near real-time observations capable of tracking volcanic unrest or rapid afterslip may be of interest to municipalities, utility operators, and first responders as well as NOAA for tsunami warning. Elsewhere, PBO data are of great value to the National Park Service to enable monitoring in locations like Yellowstone where volcanic hazard poses a threat to park visitors; these data are also of interest for weather now-casting. As the west coast EEW system moves toward a fully operational mode, sufficient spatial coverage of seismic and geodetic stations will be needed to realize a robust warning system. To maximize its contribution to the above-stated goals, needs and objectives, the PBO GPS network needs to be fully upgraded to modern GNSS instrumentation, with concomitant improvements to communications and data management infrastructure.

Last Name

Murray

What key scientific questions, emerging science opportunities and technical advances will you be pursuing in 2018 and beyond?

The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and Volcano Hazards Program utilize a variety of geodetic data for research, hazard assessment, monitoring, and response during periods of earthquakes and volcanic unrest. USGS seeks to apply geodetic data toward the understanding of natural hazards and their underlying physical processes, and in its situational awareness products, with the goal of ultimately leading to loss reduction. USGS researchers utilize geodetic data in regions including Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, California, the Basin and Range, and the New Madrid Seismic Zone for activities such as monitoring volcanoes, assessing megathrust locking and slow slip, and conducting seismic hazard assessments.
Additionally, research on the use of geodetic data for forecasting earthquake likelihoods on multiple time scales and on integrating geodetic data into the prototype US West Coast Earthquake Early Warning system are a high priority for USGS scientists. The USGS also sees great potential for seafloor geodesy in order to better understand subduction zone processes, better assess seismic hazard in coastal regions, and to improve response to tsunamigenic earthquakes in subduction zones.

What foundational or frontier geodetic and seismic facility capabilities will be required to support geoscience research in 2018 and beyond?

The USGS either operates or funds geodetic networks in California, the Pacific Northwest, the New Madrid Seismic Zone, the Aleutians, and the Cascades. The EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) network is an added foundational capability for the following. Alaska: PBO sites are used for volcano monitoring, assessing megathrust locking and slow slip, and recording deformation in future earthquakes on the subduction zone or major strike slip systems. Pacific Northwest: PBO sites provide data for monitoring of very high threat volcanoes, the prototype Earthquake Early Warning system, seismic hazard assessment, and tracking slow slip events, which might influence short term earthquake likelihood. California: PBO sites are relevant for EEW, volcano monitoring, and potentially for forecasting earthquake likelihood. Basin and Range/Yellowstone: PBO data are used for volcano monitoring in Yellowstone and provide coverage along the Wasatch Front. As a frontier capability, there is value in seafloor geodetic measurements for fully characterizing coseismic slip in great Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes. With several years of observations, such measurements would also provide constraints on plate coupling. The PBO GPS and strainmeter observations are also critical for basic research, which provides greater insight into processes governing earthquake and volcanic hazards to guide more effective utilization of geodetic observations for operational purposes.

The workshop organizers are planning on holding four webinars prior to the workshop to provide another forum for input to the workshop. Webinars will open with brief presentations, but a significant fraction of each hour will be devoted to structured discussion among participants. Participants are encouraged to review prior strategic planning reports (e.g. the Grand Challenge documents and New Research Opportunities in Earth Sciences NRC Report).

Supporting broader educational impacts

Participants in this webinar will synthesize the guidance from recent education reports that bears on the ability of the SAGE/GAGE facilities to strengthen broader educational impacts. We will discuss key ideas from reports such as Engage to Excel (PCAST report), the Next Generation Science Standards, STEM Learning is Everywhere, and Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation as well as reports and guiding documents from Earthscope, IRIS and UNAVCO relating to their education and outreach activities. What do we learn from recent education reports that should shape our thinking about the facilities? Are there other emerging ideas that should be guiding our thinking about the ability of the facilities to support broader impacts? Michael Wysession and Dave Mogk will provide opening overviews and perspectives followed by group discussion and synthesis.

Evolving landscapes and global environmental change

Participants in this webinar will discuss and summarize recent "grand challenge documents" such as the Earthscope Science Plan and the Seismological and Geodetic Grand Challenges document in the context of these themes and processes. Geophysical instruments - in particular the dense and growing networks of geodetic and seismological instruments - can be invaluable in measuring environmental change (water, land, ice, and air movements and change; vegetation; human impacts).

Time-variant behavior of faults and magmatic systems and related hazards

This webinar will focus on defining 1) key science questions related to faulting processes and magmatic systems and their related hazards and 2) the facilities (seismological, geodetic, magnetotelluric and infrasound) that are needed to address make progress in these areas.

Earth structure, rheology and geodynamics

This webinar will explore frontiers in understanding Earth structure, rheology and geodynamical processes and link these research questions to priorities for future seismological, geodetic and MT facilities.